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UPDATE: Brahma Bull Rescued After Falling Into Well Near Folsom

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FOLSOM (CBS13) – A rodeo bull got trapped in a well just outside the city limits of Folsom Tuesday night and was stuck in the water for hours.

The large bull, about 2,000 pounds, was trapped in the well about 5 feet deep in the area of Placerville Road and White Rock Road. Folsom police responded to the scene and called for assistance from firefighters and Animal Control.

It’s unclear when the bull fell into the well but he was pulled out just after midnight. Police officers first responded to the scene at about 8:30 p.m. UC Davis veterinarians were called out to assist as a small army of rescue workers descended on the scene.

The bull was still stuck for hours as dozens of firefighters surrounded the well trying to figure out how to get him out.

Eventually it was decided that the bull would be sedated, which can be risky in emergency situations.

“Well, they can get aspiration pneumonia. They can breathe in the water. They can get chilled and just get played out from their muscles getting sore,” said Dr. John Madigan, Director of the UC Davis Veterinarian Emergency Response Team. “So to sedate a compromised animal is a bit of an art as well as a science to it.”

After the bull was sedated, two firefighters went into the well, wrapped straps around him and a crane and tow truck was used to lift him out.
He was then tied up by rope and dragged by a truck farther into the field before being released.

The bull’s owner was also contacted and arrived on scene sometime around 11 p.m.

The top of the bull’s head could be seen bobbing up and down earlier in the night as he struggled in vain to free himself when rescue workers first arrived, but as time went by the bull was resigned to just watching the commotion around him as officers and firefighters were standing nearby trying to figure out a way to help the animal.

A Folsom firefighter initially tried slamming a sledge hammer into a side of the concrete well in an apparent attempt to free the animal but quickly gave up pursuing that option.

A metal grate somehow got removed from atop the well and the opening was wide enough for the bull to fall in.